IRS Gives Up, Returns Seized Home to War Tax Resisters

When Nixon got caught using the
IRS to
go after his political enemies, one of the consequences was that the
agency — though on the cusp of victory in its battle to seize the home of war
tax resister Ernest Bromley — surrendered and returned the home to its
rightful owners.

Washington, D.C. (AP) —
A pacifist group’s scheduled protest rally at Internal Revenue Service
headquarters turned into a victory celebration
Wednesday after the agency reversed its
seizure of a home owned by members of the organization.

While about 40 members of the Peacemakers danced and sang outside,
IRS
Commissioner Donald Alexander received several of their leaders in his
office to confirm the decision to drop all assessments against the
25-year-old group.

The action meant the return of the Cincinnati, Ohio, home of Peacemaker
founder Ernest Bromley and several friends active in the organization.
Earlier this year, the
IRS
technically seized the house against a claim of $33,000 the group allegedly
owed in back taxes for the years 1966–71.
None of the occupants was forced to move out.

Talked With Bromley

A spokesman for Alexander said the
IRS
district office in Cincinnati decided to reverse its lien upon the property
following an Aug. 27 interview with Bromley.
As to why Alexander personally met with Peacemaker leaders, the aide would
say only “he talks with various groups from time to time.”

Bromley did not attend [the protest/celebration, presumably —♇] because of
illness, friends said.

The tax assessment against the Peacemakers had followed a probe in
1969 of that group and other anti-war
organizations by the now-defunct Special Service unit of the
IRS.
According to revelations which surfaced during the Watergate scandal, the
unit developed an “enemies” list of about 11,000 individuals and groups with
anti-war views.

Alexander has long acknowledged that activity as improper and has promised
that the list would no longer be used in tax investigations.

Politically Tainted

In the meantime, the Peacemakers protested the levy on grounds that the case
was politically tainted and, moreover, that ownership of the Cincinnati
house was not tied directly to the organization and hence was not liable to
seizure.

The case attracted considerable controversy in the Cincinnati area,
including an 8-1 vote of the City Council to request a congressional
investigation of the
IRS
action.

One Peacemakers spokesman, Chuck Matthei, said the group thanked Alexander
for the reversal “despite the recalcitrance” but also told him of suspicions
that Special Services files are still active in
IRS
regional offices.

Moreover, said Matthei, the group vowed to continue its advocacy of
non-payment of federal taxes so long as any portion of them go to support
the defense program. Matthei said he and most of the other pacifists still
active in the group deliberately live below the taxable income level to
avoid criminal liability.

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